Trump confirms death of Osama bin Laden's son Hamza in US counterterrorism operation
Hamza bin Laden, the son of late al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, was killed in a U.S. counterterrorism operation, President Trump announced in a statement on Saturday.
The announcement confirmed previous reports in recent months that the potential heir to al Qaeda was dead. Trump said he was killed in the Afghanistan-Pakistan region. No time period was released on Hamza bin Laden's death.
"The loss of Hamza bin Ladin not only deprives al-Qa'ida of important leadership skills and the symbolic connection to his father, but undermines important operational activities of the group," the president said in the statement.
"Hamza bin Ladin was responsible for planning and dealing with various terrorist groups," Trump said.
Secretary of Defense Mark Esper claimed in a Fox News interview in August that Hamza bin Laden had already been killed.
Earlier in 2019, the State Department said bin Laden was an "emerging" leader in al Qaeda and offered a million-dollar reward for knowledge of his whereabouts.
The State Department also said that belongings taken from Osama bin Laden's compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan, after his death during a Navy SEAL raid in 2011 suggested he was preparing his son to be his official replacement within the terror group.
Saudi Arabia's official newspaper Um al-Qura announced earlier this year that the kingdom had revoked Hamza bin Laden's citizenship, which was issued through a royal order to the Interior Ministry.
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